Love Is All You Need: Beaudette Christmas and Heart Trip

We have a few very fun holiday traditions that we've started since Brooklynn was born. I look forward to each of these traditions each year and each year that the girls have gotten older, these traditions have become more fun. Cookie baking has been a favorite tradition of mine since I was a kid.

I also love taking the girls out to look at Christmas lights. This year we took along some hot chocolate and made a very fun night out of it.

It is also important to me to take my girls to Christmas Eve service at our church. We are usually accompanied by Jesse but he was down with the flu this year. Brooklynn took advantage of the invitation to sing with other children at the beginning of the church service. She was very excited and worked hard on learning the words to We Wish You A Merry Christmas and Away In A Manger. I was so proud of her.

Our new doggie Diego has been getting lots of love. He seems to appreciate his new family very much and puts up with A LOT!

Santa must have decided that both Brooklynn and Irelyn were on the nice list this year because they both received a lot of lute! The big request of the year was a drum set and the big guy in the red suit delivered.

Our Christmas Day was also filled with lots of time with family, just as it should be. We are so very fortunate to have family close, our girls get lots of love.

On New Years Eve we decided to dress up and go to a "Fancy Dinner" with the girls. Jesse and I both noticed how much easier it is getting to take the girls out to dinner. I do miss my tiny little sweethearts that I'd rock for hours but I'm enjoying the pleasures of having such grown up young ladies.

(Diego decided to get in on the photo opportunity and seemed to distract Buga Boo).

The New Year has brought new hope to our family. It has also brought a newly fixed little heart. Jesse, Irelyn and I made the trip to Seattle Children's Hospital on January 2 to have Irelyn's PDA (patent ductis arteriosis) closed. Irelyn was an amazing little traveler and didn't get nervous until we went back to the cardiac catheterization lab for the actual procedure. She is such a strong little girl!

Waiting to be taken back.

Mom and Irelyn with Irelyn's amazing NICU nurses, Kirsten and Cam.

We made it a point to fit in a little bit of fun on our trip to the big city. On Sunday we had time to make it to downtown Seattle and visit the Children's Museum and the Space Needle.